Tesselation or paving element

ABSTRACT

Tesselation or paving element or tile comprising an underpart having two by two symmetrical side surfaces, of which one pair is converging and the other diverging in the direction of the upper surface, said part carrying at its upper surface a prism, the base of which is congruent with the upper surface, wherein said prismatic part makes up at least one-third, preferably more than half of the height of the element in order to improve the mutual interlocking in directions perpendicular to the surface of the paving as well as making the joints impenetrable for loose underlayer. Tesselation of paving element or tile having parallel upper surfaces and bottom faces and oblique, two by two symmetrical side surfaces, of which at least one pair is converging in the upper surface and at least another pair in the bottom face, are known. Thus, these bodies make up shortened cross prisms, the axis of which is parallel with the upper surface and the bottom face. By joining these bodies together the elements are fixed in upwards as well as in downwards direction, when the tesselated or tiled pattern has been arranged. Each element may on its upper surface as well as on its bottom face carry a prism, the base of which is corresponding to or smaller than the surface in question, said base having such a form that the elements when joined may form a continuous surface. By these known elements the height of the prism in question is small in comparison with that of the cross prism.

United States Patent 1191 Ludvigsen' 1 Mar. 27, 1973 [54] TESSELATION ORPAVING ELEMENT 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Hans ThorkilLudvigsen, Fjellebro,-

[57] ABSTRACT Tesselation or paving element or tile comprising anunderpart having two by two symmetrical side surfaces, of which one pairis converging and the other diverging in the direction of the uppersurface, said part carrying at its upper surface a prism, the base ofwhich is' congruentwith the upper surface, wherein said prismatic partmakes up at least one-third, preferably more than half of the height ofthe element in order to improve the mutual interlocking in directionsperpendicular to the surface of the paving as well as making the jointsimpenetrable for loose underlayer.

'Tesselation of paving element or tile having parallel upper surfacesand bottom faces and oblique, two by two, symmetrical side surfaces, ofwhich at least one pair is converging in the upper surface and at leastanother pair in the bottom face, are known. Thus,

' these bodies make up shortened cross prisms, the axis of which isparallel with the upper surface and the bottom face.

' respondingto or smaller than the surface in question,

said base having such a form that the elements when joined may form acontinuous surface. By these known elements the height of the prism inquestion is small in comparison with that of the cross prism.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Oct. 13, 1969 Germany ..G 69 39 758.6

52] US. CL. ..52/608, 94/13 [51] Int; Cl. ..E04b 2/00, E041) 1/24, EOIC5/00 [58] Field of Search ..52/608-611, 575, 52/590, 572, 573, 415;94/13 '[56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,417,010 5 1922Wright et 1 ..94/13 194,250 8/1877 Krackowizer etal ..52/575 621,1003/1899 Knowles .i.....52/61 1 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 76,25212/1947 Czechoslovakia... ..'...52/4l5 29,994 12/1912 Great Britain..52/608 1,178,186 12/1958 France ..52/590 145,073 2/1931 Switzerland"52/575 P rimafyExamirier Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner.l arnes L.Ridgill, Jr. Attorney-Stowell & Stowell PATENTEUmzmza 1 6 '6 i i 4 2 Y i5 i g 2 1- Fig 4.

,INVENTOIR HANS THORKIL LUDVIGSEN ATTCRNEYS TESSELATION OR PAVINGELEMENT The purpose of the present invention is to improve the tightnessof the joints between the elements of the paving or tesselation.According to the invention this has been achieved by forming elements ofthe kind mentioned above in such a way, that the prismatic part makes upat least one-third, preferably more than half of the height of theelement. In addition to thepurpose aimed'at an improved mutual fixingperpendicular to the paved surface is surprisingly obtained whencompared with that of the known elements. Furthermore, more evensurfaces are obtained with the elements according to the presentinvention as the elements tend to level during use.

The elements according to the invention may be used advantageously inthe covering of-a loose underlayer, f.ex. sand, and may for instance beused for the securing of shores or of river-banks or as revetments ondikes. Due to the improved mutual interlocking effect the pavement canbe used on softly curved surfaces, and the pavement is able to take uplocal settings in the underlayer.

For these purposes the base of the prismatic part of the element may besquare, and the length of-the side lines in the upper surfaces and thebottom face may be considerable when compared with the height, f.ex. bysquare elements two or more times the depth, thus making the elementtile-shaped.

In the drawing an embo'diment of the element according to the inventionis shown,

FIG. 1 and 2 showing the element seen from the upper surface and thebottom face, respectively, and

FIG. 3 and 4 the element seen from two'sides at right angles to eachother.

In the drawing 1 is the upper surface, 2 the bottom face, 3 and 4 theside surfaces of the prismatic part, 5 and 6 the oblique surfaces, ofwhich the surfaces 5 are converging in the upper surface, the surface 6in the bottom. The upper surface has for ornamental purposes arounded-off elevation 7. When joined together the tiles are turnedaround a vertical axis in comparison with the neighboringtiles, in sucha way that the oblique surface 5 is always brought into contact with theoblique surface 6 of the neighboring tile.

I claimf 1. Units for use in tesselation, as paving elements, as tilesand the like covering, each of the units consisting of a prism havingparallel top and bottom surfaces, the

upper at least one-third portion of each of said units having pairs ofsymmetrical, parallel side walls the outer surfaces of which are normalto the top and bottom surfaces, and the lower remaining portion of saidunit consisting of oblique in pairs of symmetrical planar side walls ofwhich at least one pair of the oblique planar side walls is convergingfrom the bottom surface and at least the other pair of the obliqueplanar side walls is diverging from the bottom surface, said units beingassembled with the upper at least one-third portion of the side walls ofadjacent said units in closely spaced parallel relationship.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the upper portion of eachunit exceeds half of the total height of the unit.

3. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein thetop and bottom surfacesof each unit are square.-

itikti

1. Units for use in tesselation, as paving elements, as tiles and thelike covering, each of the units consisting of a prism having paralleltop and bottom surfaces, the upper at least onethird portion of each ofsaid units having pairs of symmetrical, parallel side walls the outersurfaces of which are normal to the top and bottom surfaces, and thelower remaining portion of said unit consisting of oblique in pairs ofsymmetrical planar side walls of which at least one pair of the obliqueplanar side walls is converging from the bottom surface and at least theother pair of the oblique planar side walls is diverging from the bottomsurface, said units being assembled with the upper at least onethirdportion of the side walls of adjacent said units in closely spacedparallel relationship.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein theupper portion of each unit exceeds half of the total height of the unit.3. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the top and bottom surfacesof each unit are square.